I mostly use Scentsy electric tart burners (or really the knockoff brand they have at Wal-mart.) Sometimes I burn candles, and if in a real need for a good smell I simmer a pot with a mixture like some apple juice, vanilla, cinnamon and all spice with a dash of lemon juice. That makes the house smell heavenly.
I fart a lot.
(emphasis added)
This. Tobacco is truly obnoxious, IMNSHO. And it seems like nothing less than total nuclear annihilation will suffice to de-tobacconate.
I tried one of those mesh bags full of cinnamon pine cones once, that you see in stores around this time of year. I like cinnamon scent, but to be sure, it doesn’t last very long. Who knew that cinnamon comes from pine trees anyway?
Some scented candles are nice (depends on the scent of course). But AFAIK the scent is only in the unburned candle. When you light them, you don’t get the scent filling the whole room any more than with the unlighted candle itself, as far as I’ve ever been able to tell.
Try going into the massage/aromatherapy business. Set up a studio in your spare bedroom, get some nice hanging tapestries, and all kinds of scented oils. (Serious practitioners mix their own.) After a few sessions, the scent pervades the room, and all the linens.
Incense. Indian Fruit or Sandalwood depending on my mood.
Also lots of candles. Cinnamon-spice varieties being my favorite.
I use candles and electric tart warmers and such, but mostly I bake bread a lot!
If the outside temperature is above 60F. during heating season and anytime during non-heating season, I open the windows and fill the house with one or more of the following scents:
[ul]
[li]Hay.[/li][li]Manure.[/li][li]Wood smoke.[/li][li]Gravel dust.[/li][li]Corn.[/li][li]Lilacs.[/li][/ul]
In the winter I use Oust if one of the dogs 
gets gassy, but even that has too strong a scent for my taste.
Most commercial scents are too strong for my taste, (and I can literally taste those heated oil plug-ins. Doubleplusungood.) So I go alternative for good smells. Lately, I keep a basket of oranges, tangerines, and similar around for eating, and I frequently simmer the peels in water after noshing. Smells good! Similarly, I’ll sometimes simmer a combination of cinnamon and vanilla extract to make the house smell nice. And now that it’s cool, I bake a lot.
With three kids (including one teen boy and one in diapers,) three dogs, and two adults in the house, though, chemical freshening is sometimes needed. Febreeze has a couple of lighter scents that help with the icks. Mostly, though, the house smells like my family… not always great, in other words. But diapers go into the outside trash immediately, occasional doggy accidents are cleaned immediately, and I try to avoid other icky smells in the house. (I’m not always successful, though: it took a couple of smelly days last week to track down the stray potato in the back of the cabinet. Eeeewwww!)
During warmer weather, open the windows and let the air circulate.
In colder weather, use those plug-in oil scent things.
Add a blast of air freshener spray as needed.
I selected “I don’t use any”. I do keep the windows open when it’s not too cold, and I cook a lot of nice smelling things, but I’d do both those things even if they didn’t smell nice. I’m much more sensitive (in a negative way) to perfume-y smells than to neutral or even unpleasant ‘naturally-occurring’ ones, so I’d rather just deal with manky smells by cleaning up or eliminating the source than try to cover them up. I use vinegar as a cleaning solution a lot, that tends to get rid of odors really well. You smell the vinegar for an hour or so, but after that mustyness is gone along with the vinegar smell. I’m liking some of the simmering aromatics ideas though. My mom likes to do mulled cider around the holidays and I’ve always enjoyed the effect of that - I may try it this year now that window-open season is ending.
I sympathize about the smoking-indoor roommate for sure. My ex and my current boyfriend are outdoor smokers and I’ve had to do some foot down-putting as far as cleaning clothes and such. I don’t know what I’d do if I lived with someone who smoked inside.
I used to use essential oil in a diffuser like in the photo the OP posted. I switched to tarts because they seem much more potent to me. We’ve got two smokers and two dogs in the house, so I need all the help I can get.
And I’ve just been blaming it on the lake.
I prefer fresh air but that’s not always an option. Mopping with Murphy’s oil soap is great. When that doesn’t suffice a (pricey) Gold Canyon candle is best. Their** Nag Champa** smells great and lingers for a day or two. Oddly, the licorice candle is a nice clean/fresh/cozy scent.
Prevention is important-- I take out the trash often and it makes a huge difference.
I want my house to smell like fresh air, so I have the doors and windows open as much as possible. Besides that, regular cleaning keeps it smelling fairly fresh. I HATE fake scented anything.
Exactly the kind of thing a dung beetle would say.
For the most part, I hate air fresheners, scented oils, potpourri, powders, sprays, candles, whatever. Artificial scents smell fakey and nasty to me. I even hate scented cleaning products. One house we bought years ago was owned by a cigar-smoker and his potpourri-addicted wife. Until we replaced all the carpets and curtains, that stink lingered… My daughter loves fruity and floral shampoo and conditioner and lotions and such - I can’t stand sitting beside her immediately after she showers. One of the happiest days was when I found unscented laundry detergent and fabric softener.
I love having the windows open. I love the smells of baking and cooking (mostly.) I love flowers’ perfume. But just saying your spray is Mountain Rain or Spring Freshness doesn’t make it so.
At the moment I have a reed diffuser and that’s it - I actually like the scent of different candles and oils and things, but for a long time we had birds and the two don’t really go together.
Now we have no birds, a smelly diaper pail*, it’s coming into Canadian winter and I’ve been invited to a Scentsy Party. I think I’ll go and see if I can find something nice - of course the only knowledge I have of Scentsy is the thread about the horrible boss and her Scentsy warmer so we’ll see.
*No mater how on top of that damn thing you stay, it’s still stinky. Even just the pail is stinky, even when it has no diapers - like the plastic of it smells nasty. I was house hunting with my parents a couple of years ago and we walked in a home with small children. My dad was like ‘WHAT is that smell?!?!’ It’s a Diaper Genie Dad. Just a Diaper Genie.
is that like a vibrator, for winter?
In three weeks I’m going to burn a turkey and stuffing scented candle.
Candles, candle powered oil/water burners, and incense. I really like incense. Recently had a visitor sniff the air and ask, “Is that incest?” My gf heard it also, but this visitor was someone we didn’t wanna joke around with.
And your sister, er, girlfriend, didn’t say anything?